Blue Technologies Acquires HP Autonomy’s Top Dealer in the US: Smart Solutions
Sept. 20, 2013 — Blue Technologies, Inc., an office technology provider based in Cleveland, Ohio, has acquired Smart Solutions, Inc. headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio effective September 1, 2013.
Smart Solutions is a premier IT solutions provider to clients in the education, legal, professional services, government, and corporate sectors. The company provides managed services, comprehensive IT infrastructure consulting, document management solutions, and optimization. This year they were named “North American Partner of the Year” by HP Autonomy.
Smart Solutions will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Technologies and renamed Blue Technologies Smart Solutions. Bill Julka, president of Smart Solutions, will remain onboard as Vice President and all employees will be retained during the acquisition. As a result, the combined revenues of the company will exceed $50 million.
Paul Hanna, President of Blue Technologies, is thrilled at the potential the acquisition brings to the company stating, “We have been searching for the perfect acquisition for some time and after meeting Bill, seeing his company’s commitment to customer service and their passion for cutting edge technology, I knew this would be a great fit for the growth of Blue Technologies and Smart Solutions.” Blue Technologies expands its footprint into the IT space by more than doubling the service and support teams to provide users with an unparalleled level of knowledge and skill. This expertise includes solutions specifically designed for customers in the education, legal, government and corporate sectors.
Bill Julka is enthusiastic about his company joining forces with the locally owned and operated Blue Technologies. “After starting my company in Ohio, I am pleased to see Smart Solutions join with a company that shares the same values and deep ties to the community. I am eager to see the combined company continue to grow as it serves local, national and international businesses, offering complete office technology solutions.”
MWA Intelligence and SAP Join Forces at Tokyo Innovation Fair
Sept. 23, 2013 — MWA Intelligence (MWAi) will be hosting the Tokyo Innovation Fair next month. This four-day event takes place in Tokyo October 29th through November 1st and promises to attract attendees from major print imaging vendors as well as IT companies, Value Add Resellers (VAR’s), systems integrators, OEMs, and end-users.
MWAi, along with SAP, and support from its Technology United partners (Intel, Intellinetics, LMI, and 1105 Media) will host open seminar sessions to facilitate best practices solutions within the changing marketplace in preparation for the estimated over 50-billion connected products by the year 2020.
“MWAi is thrilled to host the annual Tokyo Innovation Fair and honored to have SAP as a partner in this fantastic and exciting venue where knowledgeable industry leaders can share ideas and growth strategies,” says Michael Stramaglio, president and CEO of MWA Intelligence. “We have been part of the imaging industry for decades and we always look forward to working with and partnering with leading innovators in our market. By optimizing our time at this event, and bringing together an array of attendees, we will have a greater understanding of the power and automation our SAP Business One solution – FORZA – and the effect it has on our industry.”
The goal of the Tokyo Innovation Fair is to marry all facets of the print imaging industry together and share business processes and best practices between hardware and software vendors alike.
“I anticipate this event to be one-of-a-kind and I am ready to answer many questions regarding the MWAi FORZA with SAP Business One solution,” adds Hiro Ueda, senior vice president of Business Development at MWA Intelligence. “Many major manufacturers currently utilize the SAP Enterprise solution and I look forward to discussing how the introduction of the MWAi FORZA with SAP Business One solution will help our domestic dealers as well as their international and Asian counterparts.”
Laguna Development Corporation Selects Innovolt to Protect Thousands of Slot Machines
Sept. 24, 2013 – InnovoltInc. has announced that it has been selected by Laguna Development Corporation (LDC) to implement its intelligent asset management and Remote Optimization Control (ROC) technology within the corporation’s three casinos. LDC manages more than 2,300 slot machines which, like other electronic equipment, rely on clean power to function properly. Without it, they can experience expensive maintenance issues and poor performance which equate to a negative customer experience.
LDC recognized a need for electronics protection and asset management years ago but had been unable to find a solution that solved the problems that are exasperated by bad weather. Between the cost of parts and down time, power outages can cost LDC as much as $70,000 per disturbance. After a highly successful proof-of-concept, in which the slot machines that were equipped with Innovolt’s ROC technology did not fail once, LDC is moving forward and implementing Innovolt’s solution throughout its three casinos: Dancing Eagle, Route 66 and Express Casinos.
“Power outages can be extremely damaging to our equipment, causing monitors and button panels to burn out, leaving our customers irritated and less likely to return. Additionally, every power disturbance costs us in both maintenance and lost revenue,” explains Jeffery Inman, corporate director of slot operations for LDC. “Innovolt’s solution has made a significant difference by improving equipment reliability and uptime. Since implementing its technology we’ve had a decrease in service issues, which I anticipate will result in a 60 percent decrease in repair costs next year.”
“The need for Innovolt’s asset protection and management solution has become a number one priority for companies with highly technical and digital equipment. This is especially relevant given how prevalent and unpredictable natural disasters and storms are becoming,” says Jim Mitropoulos, CEO of Innovolt. “Innovolt’s technology offers cost-savings for customers and positively impacts their bottom line by extending the life of electronics equipment. For the casino industry in particular, this type of solution is imperative to protect brand reputation and ensure equipment is up and running 24/7.”
To watch a video and learn more about how LDC implemented Innovolt’s technology, visit http://innovolt.com/resources/videos/casinos-reduce-repair-costs-and-increase-uptime-innovolt.
Plustek Ships New A3-Size, 80 PPM Document Scanner
Sept. 24, 2013 – Plustek Technology Inc. has begun shipment of the Plustek SmartOffice SC8016U Departmental Document Scanner. Featuring a scan speed of 80 pages per minute (160 images-per-minute in duplex mode), a 100-sheet feeder and a daily duty cycle of 8,000 pages per day, the SmartOffice SC8016U is designed for applications requiring frequent scanning of large-document batches.
The newly designed feeder enables pages sized from 2”x2.5” up to 12”x200” (including standard U.S. paper sizes up to 11”x17”) to be scanned without sorting. A special long-paper mode enables scanning of pages up to 200” long, including non-standard sized contract and loan forms, EKGs, oil well logs and strip charts. Industry standard TWAIN ensure compatibility with thousands of scanning and imaging programs. ABBYY FineReader Sprint is included to easily create and manage searchable PDFs at the touch of a button. Built-in image processing ensures the highest image quality, reduces rescans and increases OCR accuracy.
MSRP is $1899. Additional product information and photos can be found by visiting:
http://plustek.com/usa/products/smart-office-series/smartoffice-sc8016u/
Epson Unveils PrecisionCore Technology
Sept. 24, 2013 – Epson global president, Minoru Usui, has announced PrecisonCore, a next-generation inkjet printing technology poised to transform the printing business, which reportedly provides the company with an unparalleled level of manufacturing efficiency to expand into high-potential new global markets. PrecisionCore builds on Epson’s reputation for output quality, at the speeds required for industrial and commercial printing. The technology will also be extended into the company’s office printing range.
At a press conference at Labelexpo, a premier label industry exhibition, Usui explained how Epson combined years of technical expertise with recent breakthroughs in piezo material and high-precision MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) manufacturing to create an innovative new print chip. The new PrecisionCore chip delivers commercial-grade performance in a compact, modular form, and enables Epson to scale the technology from single-pass industrial presses to workgroup and desktop printers.
PrecisionCore is the only volume-produced printing technology that spans such a wide range of inks and marking materials, according to Epson. PrecisionCore technology extends Epson’s high-performance thin-film piezo print technology, currently used in its market-leading commercial large-format printers, to deliver customers flexible industrial and business printing solutions with superior color, print quality, and output durability on the widest range of media for everything from business documents, photography and signage, to commercial labels, packaging, and textiles.
Epson’s unique integrated production cycle – from the piezo printhead to the finished printing device – provides a highly efficient manufacturing process to address a full range of digital printing opportunities with the scale, quality and cost effectiveness only possible through MEMS chip production.
“For the first time, one printing technology offers the performance and scalability to fundamentally change how business approaches printing,” adds Keith Kratzberg, senior vice president, Epson America. “While today’s industrial printing announcements from Epson showcase the power of PrecisionCore in the prime label and packaging industry, the technology will soon extend to a full range of PrecisionCore-based products designed for today’s office printing environments.”
In conjunction with the PrecisionCore announcement today, Epson is demonstrating several new products incorporating the technology at Labelexpo in Hall 9, Stand 9H50, from Sept. 24 – 27. The products tap into PrecisionCore’s ability to power innovations and include a number of firsts: the SurePress L-6034V and L-6034VW are Epson’s first digital label presses that use UV-cure ink and that integrate a linehead printhead array; and the SureColor F2000 is Epson’s first direct-to-garment printer.
Visit epson.com/PrecisionCore for more details about PrecisionCore.
